Something To Fight For
by Lethal-Pepper
Summary: For too long, he had struggled with surviving. But Ellie, no matter what, kept finding something to fight for. She always had a reason. And now, like her, he finally found his. (Rated T because I'm paranoid, like always. But it might change.)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - A Move

**Disclaimer:** The wonderful characters that are in The Last of Us do not belong to me. I do not own anything that you would recognize. Instead, they belong to their talented owners.

**Prompt:** Write a story where the main character has to make a decision about letting his or her loved one die.  
**Summary:** Never having a say in it, Joel lost every single person that he ever cared for. That is, except for Ellie.  
**Warning:** The discussion of death (although very minor), a quick scene of violence - which causes serious harm (happens later on), as well as major spoilers for the game.

I'm sorry to those who are waiting for the next chapter to 'Worth It', but you are going to have a wait a bit longer. Right now, inspiration decided to turn my attention to something else. Sorry.

Now. Guess who just finished watching The Last of Us? That's right - this girl! And lemme tell you.. the amount of tears that I cried put Niagara Falls to shame. Seriously - the game, my gosh! Who else agrees with me? It was pure awesome. I love it! (: I totally recommend it.

Unlike my other stories, this will be nothing more than a two-shot. The first part will basically be the scene where Joel wakes up in the lab, but after that - the second part - it will venture off to my interpretation of what he thinks as he walks through the lab. (If that makes sense) So, if you haven't played the game or at least watched any of the walk-through, then I don't recommend reading on until then; that is, unless you don't care if the game gets spoiled for you. (What little there is here) Otherwise, I hope that you enjoy and I'll see you at the end!

Happy reading, friends!

* * *

Upon opening his eyes, it only takes a few, short seconds for his body to be working at full speed again. He blinks rapidly, briefly pondering on how _soft the bed_ was. He wants to continue lying there; the _room_ that he is in is warm, clean, and _not_ full of the infected. It has four walls that are colored a dark grey, and aligned with cabinets that are full to the brim with objects both big and small. And he almost does stay, until he remembers.

He did not start in a room. And he had not been completely alone either.

Where was she? Joel's heart starts to race and he can suddenly feel himself grow panicked. To his left, he cannot see any other bed - or the fact that one would be able to fit, since the wall was only a few feet from his pale face. _Where_ was Ellie? Why was she not -

He turns around, and proceeds to sit up on the bed. Only to stop once his eyes land on the other occupant in the room, which was not so empty anymore.

"Welcome to the Fireflies." It is Marlene. She gestures to the side of his head, her voice soft as she continues. "Sorry about the..."

Joel, however, did not answer the dark-brunette right away. Instead, he continues to look about the room; hoping to find the answer to his overworked mind. His blank expression quickly becomes angered as he stares at the gun-wielding officer that stood at the foot of the bed.

And her eyes follow, to which she says, "They didn't know who you were."

But none of that mattered to him. Joel did not care much about the bump that was taking its time to form on the side of his head, that was the least of his worries; after all, he had sustained worse. All he cared about was the little girl who, what seemed so long ago, he had been forced to take care of.

Joel reaches out to Marlene, who was sitting comfortably in a chair next to him. "And Ellie?" He asks hurriedly.

She quickly settles his growing fears; "She's alright. They brought her back."

With that, his head falls on the forest-green sheets with a soft _thump_. Relief overshadows him as her words sink in and he can't help but let a small smile split his already-chapped lips. She was alright. Ellie was safe, they had brought her back and she was _breathing_-

Marlene stares at him with a faint expression of disbelief. "You came all this way." She trails off, and shakes her head; becoming more stern. "How'd you do it?"

A laugh almost escapes his throat, but he settles with a quick shake of his head as well. "It was her." He answers, clearing his throat a beat later. "She fought like hell to get here." Getting to this place, the lab, had nothing to do with him; it had all been Ellie's doing. He had only tagged along because he could not bear with the thought of leaving a _child_ all alone and defenseless _out there_ with those _things._

"Maybe it was meant to be." Joel say and sits up in the bed; the faint sound of ruffling sheets echoing off of the smooth walls. As he did so, his muscles screamed at him - especially his stomach - in protest towards the movement. Still, he grit he teeth and shakily pushed himself up until he was sitting fully erect. Seeing the change in his façade, Marlene got up from his cross-legged position on the small chair.

She sends the soldier a quick look. "I lost most of my crew, crossing the country." Marlene tells Joel, and paces the room. She faces away from the two men and wipes at her nose, before turning back around. "I pretty much lost everything." Her facial features wrinkle as she sends the injured man, Joel, a calculating look. "And then you show up and somehow we find you just in time to save her."

Marlene's voice softens as she nods in agreement, the meaning behind the small phrase bringing back old memories. "Maybe it _was_ meant to be."

Joel shakes his head - _finally_, something that they had agreed on _without_ yelling. "Take me to her." He shifts his weight so that he started to slowly roll off the hospital bed. So he was in the actually _hospital_ end of the testing facility. Out of the corner of his eye, Joel could see the gruff-looking soldier move his way closer. He suddenly became rigid with confusion, _why_ was he-

"You don't have to worry about her anymore." Marlene offered, and crosses her arms. This was not going to be easy. "We'll take care of-"

Joel cuts her off with a second wave of his hand. "I worry." He sits at the edge of the bed, gripping the worn mattress tightly. "Just let me see her. Please."

"You can't." Marlene holds her breath. "She's being prepped for surgery." Her heart clenches painfully at the look that he gives her. She knew, just by the way that he spoke - in the few, short seconds - how strong the bond was between those two. After all, even she could tell; Ellie, in some ways, was a lot like Sarah. And she hated having to do this to him; to tell Joel what was going to happen, to yet another person that he cared about.

But he should have expected this, right? Joel should have known what was going to happen, _not_ be giving her a look of utter confusion. Her assumption was proved ever more wrong when he asked her, "The hell you mean 'surgery'?"

Noticing that he was advancing on her, Marlene begins to explain; "The doctors tell me that the cordyceps, the growth inside her, has somehow mutated." Her raised hand falls back to her side. As the soldier appears just behind Joel, she immediately becomes calmer. But it does nothing to silence the whispers of guilt that were rising. "It's why she's immune. And once they remove it, they'll be able to reverse engineer a _vaccine_." A smile crosses her face as she repeats it, hoping to arose a lighter reaction in Joel. Tears of relief fill her eyes. "A vaccine."

But the smile never appears on his face. The only thing that happens is his eyebrows furrow together as the gears in his brain start to work, to put the pieces together. "But it grows all over the brain." Joel tells her, and sends her a look.

To which she hesitantly returns, with her voice a bit heavy. "It does."

As the gears in his brain suddenly screeched to a stop, the look on his face hardened when the answer became clear. "Find someone else." He growled lowly.

"There is no one else." Marlene simply replied.

Joel took small, yet firm, steps towards the tan-skinned woman. He waved a finger at her, his voice still laced with anger; "Listen, you are gonna show me where-" Only to be abruptly cut off when he felt a hand grasp his wrist, which was quickly followed up by a swift knee in the back. He grunted in pain as he fell to the floor.

Seeing as a gun was being raised, Marlene approached the soldier. "Stop." She ordered, looking back down at Joel with a frown. "I get it. But whatever it is you think you're going through right now is nothing to what I have been through. I knew her since I was born." Her voice became shaky as the depressing memories came forth for a second time that day. "I promised her mother that I would look after her."

Joel looked over his shoulder at the armed woman. He did not understand. "Then _why_ are you letting this happen?"

"Because this isn't about me. Or even her," she gestured to the far wall and what lay beyond it. "There is _no other_ choice here."

Joel swallowed and shook his head, for what seemed like the umpteenth time in a matter of minutes. He sat with his back against the small, cushioned chair, a small wave of disbelief hitting the words that he spoke, "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that bullshit." He glared up at her.

The two adults do not alter gazes for a while. The room was enveloped in a silence so heavy, it could be cut with a knife. That is, it was, until Marlene provided the soldier that stood on her right with a new objective. "March him outta here. He tries anything, shoot him."

The soldier gives Joel a look that took on an edge of pleasure, as if the man was more than happy to do it if given a proper excuse; though it was ignored. Marlene blinked, not taking her eyes off of Joel for a moment; even though her expression softened. "_Don't_ waste this gift, Joel." And with that, she left the room; leaving the door ajar.

Waiting a moment or two after Marlene had left, the soldier took a step forward. "Get up." When Joel did not make a move, he continued, "I said, get up."

With a sigh, Joel pushed himself to his feet. The gruff commands of the soldier going in one ear, and out the other; "Go on. Move." Sending a sharp, and rather irritated, look at the other man, Joel shuffled through the stained and peeling door.

Apparently, he had not been moving fast enough. So, Joel was met with a rough shove; the thick, round barrel of the gun meeting the bare spot between his two shoulder blades. He nearly growled, but was cut short when he response was a smug look. "Gimme an excuse."

Oh, he was going to make a move. It was only a matter of when, and how.

In his mind, he sighed. On the outside, though, he uttered a simple, two-worded question, "Which way?" When he was given a jerk of the gun towards the left, Joel obeyed - for one of the few times in his life.

He was definitely going to make a move. And as they slowly walked towards the building's exit, Joel made a promise. He was _not_ going to leave this place without her. Not without Ellie. But how?

* * *

**A/N: I know, it's a bit slow. Sorry 'bout that. But it had to done! Or.. at least, I think so.**

**Anyways, unlike all the other times, the second part **will** be uploaded in the same day! Promise! So, you can put those tomatoes, and other objects, back down! Unless I get a call from family about my Grandmother, who was recently discharged from the hospital last night, I will continue writing it in the same day.**

**You just have to be patient. Unlike Joel.**

**I hope that you guys enjoyed this and I'm going to leave with a quick thanks to all the people who've reviewed on my other works. And maybe this one as well, if I have any takers? If so, just click that little button down there!**

**Until next time, ¡Adiós!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - A Reason

**Disclaimer:** The wonderful characters that are in The Last of Us do not belong to me. I do not own anything that you would recognize. Instead, they belong to their talented owners.

**Prompt:** Write a story where the main character has to make a decision about letting his or her loved one die.  
**Summary:** Never having a say in it, Joel lost every single person that he ever cared for. That is, except for Ellie.  
**Warning:** The discussion of death (although very minor), a quick scene of violence - which causes serious harm (happens later), quite a few curse words, as well as _major_ spoilers for the game.

Just like I promised here is the second chapter! Sadly, though, it is the last part.

Unlike my other stories, this will be nothing more than a two-shot, and a very long one at that. The first part will basically be the scene where Joel wakes up in the lab, but after that - the second part - it will venture off to my interpretation of what he thinks as he walks through the lab. (If that makes sense) So, if you haven't played the game or at least watched any of the walk-through, then I don't recommend reading on until then; that is, unless you don't care if the game gets spoiled for you. (What little there is here)

This time, I want to keep this Author's Note short. So, with that said, I hope that you enjoy and I'll see you at the end!

Happy reading, friends!

* * *

_Just as a recap:_

_He was definitely going to make a move. And as they slowly walked towards the building's exit, Joel made a promise. He was not going to leave this place without her. Not without Ellie. But how?_

* * *

That was when Joel saw a backpack. Most importantly, _his_ backpack. And his backpack meant weapons, which meant a way out.

Within mere steps of passing the desk that the worn backpack sat on, Joel began to form a plan - although, it was not a particularly elaborate one. There were only three steps to it: Step One - Find out where Ellie was; Step Two - Get Ellie; and Step Three - Get out. Alive.

_'Hopefully this will work.'_ Joel decided, and slowly came to a stop.

To answer his silent remark, the soldier asked, "What the fuck are you doin'? Keep walking." When he was not given ever the slightest acknowledgements, he shoved Joel; hitting his back with the gun's thick barrel. He frowned deeply, growing suspicious. "I _said_ keep walking."

And that was when Joel saw an opportunity to make his move.

As he turned around, that was when the soldier fired; but the shot missed when, at the same moment, Joel jerked his elbow in an upwards motion. The bullet lodged itself somewhere inside one of the ceiling's stained panels. The loud bang of a gun going off bounced off of the walls that surrounded them, disappearing as quickly as it had happened.

Joel licked his lips as he shoved the man against the wall, and in one quick movement he grabbed hold of the gun. With a grunt, he hit the man sharply across the head with the butt of the gun twice; not paying attention to the dark, red blood that splattered the front of his shirt and the wall. He had to act fast - it was only a matter of time until someone came running to investigate.

Holding the soldier against the wall, by his throat, Joel pointed the gun down at the man's crotch. He narrowed his eyes in distaste, and growled lowly, "Where is the operating room?"

However, the soldier did not respond. He continued to stare straight into his eyes, thick eyebrows creasing together.

Noticing the lack of words flowing from the man's mouth, Joel shook his head. "I ain't got time for this." He mumbled, looking to the side for a quick second as he pulled the trigger. And the sound of the gun going off was clearly heard, along with the soft splatter of blood as it began to stain the tiled floor beneath his shoes. "Where?" He asked again.

The soldier's eyes seemed to become as wide as saucers. The pain that was omitting from his broken and bloodied nose seemed to nothing but a dull, faint throb. And his jaw nearly hit the floor as another shot went off. Albeit with major difficulty, he managed to form words; "Top floor. The far end." He croaked out with a thin line of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Nodding in approval, Joel let the abused man fall to the floor. But not without aiming at his forehead and shooting another bullet. A thick trail of blood coated the walls, outlining the route that the soldier took before he hit the ground with a solid thump.

Without a second glance towards the still corpse that lay to the right of his dirt and grime-covered shoes, Joel stuck the gun in the waist of his blue-jeans. His eyes widened as the loud shouts of other soldiers echoed to his end of the long hallway; "Gun shots! Search the floor!"

Quickly slipping his arms through the spaces of the backpack's arm straps, Joel cursed under his breath, "Oh shit." And took off running in the opposite direction of the voices and pounding of feet.

* * *

Joel flinched as the sound of another hand-made bomb was set off. The smell of smoke and burnt fabric barely had the time to reach his nose as he ducked behind an object, making quick use of the distraction as soldiers, the few that were left, shuffled their way towards the blast sight. Noticing how quiet it was, he took a peak over the small desk that he had taken temporary shelter behind. Notching an arrow, he pulled the string back and aimed; his ear picking up the ever-faint groan of the material as it was stretch. And let go, waiting only a beat before rushing over to the fallen man to retrieve the lodged arrow.

Only once in the darkened hallways of the large building was he forced to turn around, due to the semi-important task of looting for extra supplies. Upon having done so and grabbing a rather generous load of ammo, which may or may not have belonged to a deseased soldier, he had stumbled upon an x-ray lab. Out of sheer curiosity, he had peered inside only to find himself inching the door open as quietly as possible a foot step or two later.

On a desk that was located rather close to one of the large, rectangular windows was a file, and, with a trained eye that he thought that had been long lost, written on a tab were five letters of the alphabet, ones that spelled a name - Ellie. It was her file, and as he opened it, found out that it contained a single x-ray of her brain; both on its side and from the front. He had been shocked at first glance, seeing how nearly her entire brain had been covered in that mushroom-shaped fungi. And yet she had not turned.

Joel was suddenly brought out of his revere when there came a hushed whisper to his right. Quickly fingering the small knife in his hands, he waited until the soft scrape of heeled boots neared the desk until-

"!" The fallen soldier's yelp of surprise was silenced into a soft gurgle as Joel wrapped his arms around the man's neck. As the muscles in the soldier's body unwillingly relaxed due to the lack of oxygen, Joel could not help but gently lower the man to the ground. A small part of him, one, again, that he thought that he had long-since subdued, could not help but feel guilty for but a moment; but the feeling was quickly crushed as the thought that these monsters were going to kill Ellie, just to somehow reverse-engineer a vaccine. Just to have a better chance at surviving against those things.

Before pushing open a double-door, Joel came to a halt.

The generator-powered lights that sat in every corner continued to flash bright red, happily illuminating the wrinkles that appeared at the corners of his eyes and middle of his forehead as, for a second time, he came to a realization. Was he not the same as them, the Fireflies?

Did he not look for any way to have an edge towards the infected? Better believe it. Every chance he got.

Did he not kill one infected person after the other? Certainly.

Unlike the Fireflies, though, he had a reason to go out a murder countless people every day, whether they were infected or if they attacked him first. With them? You were lucky to walk away alive, and the only way to do that was if you were one of their possessions or knew of someone on the inside. Or, if you were one of them.

In one way or another, Joel was just like the Fireflies. He killed for an opportunity to keep breathing instead of becoming one of the infected. Yet, in a different sense, he was not. He was different.

He had one things that the Fireflies did not. A _reason_ to stay alive. And that was-

"Ellie." He breathed, eyes going wide at the still form of the young adolescent. He moved forward, the soft swish as the operating room door slid closed once again. He was stopped short, however, as a doctor that was clothed from head-to-toe in teal-colored scrubs cautiously approached him.

"Doctor?" A nurse asked, unsure of what to do - should she proceed like planned?

The doctor in charge held his in a sign of submission as Joel started to walk towards the hospital bed that was surrounded by medical equipment. The sickly-pale form of Ellie that lay silently on top was the only thing on his mind; the frightened bodies of the assigned-doctors barely registering to him.

And then he saw the knives and scissors that were being held tightly by one of the other doctors. "What are you doing in here?" The third doctor asked, his voice a bit shaky as he clung for dear life on the edge of the sink; dropping the utensils to the floor in surprise.

That was when it all came back to him - they were going to cut Ellie open, the surgery.

His eyes narrowed angrily, and he looked down at the shorter human that stood an arm's-length away. Joel moved to take out his pistol, reloading it in one, swift motion as he took aim.

The doctor that he had his eyes locked on backed up when he took a step forward. The uniformed man shook his head in disapproval. "I won't let you take her. That is our future." He offers out a hand, "think of all the lives we'll sa-"

But Joel does not want to listen. He just cannot bear loosing another person, not someone else that he cared for. Not again. And so he pulls the trigger; silencing the rest of the man's sentence, not even watching as the body slumps to the floor, hunched over.

Glancing over at their fallen comrade. "No!" One of the nurses screams at Joel as he maneuvers to the other side of the room, "You fucking animal!" The rude comment nearly being drowned out by the steady beat of the heart monitor as it calmly chirps away.

The doctor's gaze flashes to the nurse and he hisses, "Kari, shut the hell up!" Quite frankly, he preferred to stay alive and breathing, instead of being met with a bullet to his head. When he sees the gun trained on him, his body begins to shake in fear. "O-Oh god. Ah, just take the girl leave. Okay?" He whimpers with his face facing the dust-covered wall.

And Joel does just that.

Squinting his eyes against the impossibly bright light of yet another lamp, he began to detach the clips from Ellie's motionless body - she was still breathing, he reminded himself. As soon as the first device was removed, which was a Pulse Oximeter that was clamped around her index finger, the heart monitor began to wail loudly as its screen displayed a flat line. He had to keep his eyes locked on Ellie or else he would have surely recoiled from the obnoxiously loud sound. Next to be tossed out of the way was a small oxygen mask, which immediately became clear once it was torn away from her face.

"Come on, baby girl," Joel mumbled, slipping one arm underneath her knees and the other under the arms. He sent a concerned glance down at the limp form of the young teenager that he had - at first, a bit reluctantly - grown close to. "I gotcha, I gotcha." Lifting her body up, he cradled Ellie close to him, and made sure that no extra wires were attached before rushing to the other door.

He looked up just in time to see more lights flood in from the hallway, filling up the well-lit operating room. His eyes widened, "Oh shit." He breathed, already feeling adrenaline coursing through his brains, coating every muscle. It masked the pain that had bubbled from his stomach and the headache that was slowly, but surly, making itself known. He jumped, breaking his frightful stare with the door that had been left ajar.

"Get back!" Sending the two medical professionals a quick glare, Joel took a deep breath and kicked open the door that had remained closed. Without another glance behind him, not even to see how far the soldiers were behind him, he started to sprint down the dimly lit hallway. As he ran around cluttered desks and ducked behind stray pillars, the shouts of the soldiers filled his ears.

"He's carrying her towards pediatrics. Get up here. _Now._"

Joel's heart nearly stopped, they were calling for backup. And if there were extra soldiers, then he could not fight them off. They would take her away from him, but not before shooting him like Marlene had previously ordered. He shook his head, no. That would not happen. As he continued to run in the opposite direction of the soldiers, Joel spared a glance at every room and sign that he happened to see. But none of them displayed the four-letter word.

That is, none until he reached the end of the hallway. And there was an elevator. An _elevator._

"He's over here!" Someone shouted, a little too close for comfort.

"Shit," he hissed, wondering how, in that short amount of time of leaving the operating room, they had been able to get so close. He dashed through an open-door room, avoiding another barricade; one, he was sure, that was meant for the infected. He looked down at Ellie, her pale face calmly facing the ceiling as her neck bent back. "I'm getting you outta here girl." He promised her, with the elevator in his sight again.

The _click_ of boots echoed down the window-lined hallway, along with a shout and multiple beams of light. "Come on, man." One tried to reason with him, "we only want the girl." It did not work.

"I got you." He reassured Ellie's slumbering form. "I got you." They were almost there. Just a few more steps.

"Cover the exits!" A soldier yelled frantically.

Joel did not alter his gaze from the elevator, its bright light illuminating everything that was within five feet of it. It was their "light at the end of the tunnel". A symbol of freedom. "Come on." He grunted, nearly slipping on a few sheets of discarded paper. "We're okay, we're okay," he repeated.

Just before reaching the elevator, a soldier appears on his left; sprinting towards him with his arm outstretched, gun raised. "This is your last chance." He shouts, and reloads in the beat of silence. All means of negotiating were out the window. "Drop her now!" He shoots, having noticed that Joel was not listening to any of their warnings.

And misses.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not going to say much here, since I decided to divide this part into another due to length. Hope you don't mind! I'll definitely have the last part uploaded in a few minutes.**

**Until next time, ¡Adiós!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - To Fight For

**Disclaimer:** The wonderful characters that are in The Last of Us do not belong to me. I do not own anything that you would recognize. Instead, they belong to their talented owners.

**Prompt:** Write a story where the main character has to make a decision about letting his or her loved one die.  
**Summary:** Never having a say in it, Joel lost every single person that he ever cared for. That is, except for Ellie.  
**Warning:** The discussion of death (although very minor), a quick scene of violence - which causes serious harm (happens later), quite a few curse words, as well as _major_ spoilers for the game.

Hey! Hey! Look at this! A third chapter! This soon? Better believe it!

I want to keep this short, so I'm only going to say one or two things more. First off, I know that this was originally planned to be a two-shot, but it was cut into three parts due to word length. And let's face it, when I write something, it almost never ends up like the original anyways. That is a good thing, in case some of you were wondering. ;)

Anyways, unfortunately, this _will_ be the last part! And lemme tell you, the ride was wonderful! I enjoyed it, how about you? Since I want to get a move on, and I'm sure some of you will agree - for those who actually do read these Author's Notes - I'm going to let you go now. I hope that you enjoy the last installment and I'll see you at the end one last time, 'Kay?

And like always, happy reading, friends!

* * *

_Just as a recap:_

_Just before reaching the elevator, a soldier appears on his left; sprinting towards him with his arm outstretched, gun raised. "This is your last chance." He shouts, and reloads in the beat of silence. All means of negotiating were out the window. "Drop her now!" He shoots, having noticed that Joel was not listening to any of their warnings._

_And misses._

* * *

Joel stumbles into the elevator, barely able to maintain his strong hold on the unconscious child that was in his arms. Huffing for air, he leaned forward and, with his free hand, pressed the button that was meant for the parking lot. He takes a step back, waiting for the soft _ding_ that would sound. His palms grow sweaty as precious seconds pass, and the soldiers get closer. "C'mon, c'mon." He rushes, looking from the panel of buttons to the quickly filling-hallway.

"Hey! Stop!" One soldier yells, but their orders are simply ignored as the high-pitched _ding_ resounds in the small cube.

He leans up against the far back wall of the elevator as the doors slide shut. But he does not entirely calm down until the muffled groan of the machine's gears are heard, signifying that they were moving down and away from those soldiers. "Oh god." Joel breathes, closing his eyes to rest while he can; to calm himself. To be prepared.

Just in case.

He then steps forward as the soft chime for the bottom floor is heard. He looks up for reference, and the red symbols _P2_ stare unblinking back at him; letting him know with one, last _ding_ that this was their stop. The doors slide open with faint _swoosh_ of metal, but before stepping out, he presses the large, red, emergency button; locking the elevator in place. "Okay, c'mon, c'mon," Joel takes a calming breath and walks out, a parked car in his sights-

Only to come face-to-face with Marlene. "You can't save her."

Joel's eyes narrow as he stares back at her; someone who he thought that he could consider a distant friend, if not, then an ally. But the gun that she clearly pointed at him proves differently. Marlene is no longer someone who he can look to for help.

_'She's just like them,'_ Joel tells himself, turning his body so that Ellie was, at least, mostly hidden. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second as memories from an event that had happened years ago come flooding back. He remembers it well. How he had told her, Sarah, that they were going to be okay, they were going to be fine.

But they did not end up that way, like he planned. At least, not all of them. Out of the three people, only two came back walking and breathing. The third...

Joel looks Marlene straight in the eyes, her words going in one ear and out the other. His heart began to hammer erratically in his chest, the illusion that she was that Soldier from all those nights ago mixing together, until, after a moment, she was. And yet, she was not. Still, it did not make a difference. Someone was standing in between him and someone he cared.

His fingers twitched. She was going to take Ellie away from him. Just like Sarah, and tears came to his eyes as the memory slowly, painfully, came to an end; they were going to take her. They were going to snuff out the light. His reason, why he had made it this far.

He frowned, _'Not again.'_ And a shot went off.

* * *

"We're almost there."

As they shuffle through the thick foliage, Joel, every once in a while, looks over his shoulder. To make sure that she is still following him, still there _with him_. When he turns around to calculate how much further they have to travel, he is inwardly surprised; only a few more feet until the structure came within their eyesight.

Knowing that she would not be the one to talk first, Joel decided to break the ice. "Don't think I ever told you, but Sarah and I used to take hikes like this." He glances behind him, finding her gaze was directed at her feet. Not at him. "I think ah.." he paused, still sore. "I think the two of you would've been good friends. Think you really would'a liked her. I know she would'a liked you." He admits.

Climbing over a rather large, fallen tree, Ellie then sighs, "yeah." How was she supposed to tell him? Her gaze fell, once again, to look at the tops of her black and white-Vanz as she followed. She wanted to tell him, really she did. But the question was _how?_

"Wow. Look down there." Joel whistled.

Ellie opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly hushed as Joel came to a stop a few, short jogs ahead of her. Her eyes widen a fraction as she looks down at the beautiful, and pretty amazing, view of the Hydroelectric Power Plant. How the machines hummed with pride, each individual gear glad to be up and running once more; filtering the water before dumping it back out, ending up with electricity to-

It was until then that it hit her. The building! It was full of electricity! And she offered a faint smile.

"Just a little bit further now." Joel informed her, being mindful of his feet and where he put them as they walked along the edge of a waterfall as it roared; its mist hitting them in the face. He jumped, pulling himself up and over another fallen log to reach the other side of the cliff; in order to get to Tommy's. "Here, I got you." And he grabs her hand, to steady her as she climbs up.

Joel gestures to the side and moves to walk, "Alright. Let's go." That is, until Ellie asks him to wait. He watches as her shoulders slump as she lets out a heavy sigh. Her hands fall back to her sides, twitching wildly with nervousness.

Until she stops, suddenly, and faces him, unsure written on her features. "Back in Boston- Back when I was bitten-" She pauses, studying his faces as Joel shifts his weight to one side. "I wasn't alone." Ellie does not blink, not wanting to lose her cool. "My best friend was there. And she got bit too." Her voice is soft as she finds a way to explain, and she shakes her head. "We didn't know what to do. So.."

Joel, however, was confused. Why was she telling him this? Why now? His eyebrows furrow together as he waits for the stubborn teenager, someone who he had thought that he would never get along with, to continue.

Ellie stares off to the side, reminiscing in memories that were almost as old as her. "She says, "Let's just wait it out. Y'know, we can be all poetic just lose our minds together"." And then she snaps back into focus. Ellie looks up at him for answers to questions that she was not sure of. "I'm _still_ waiting for my turn."

Crossing his arms, Joel takes a breath, "Ellie-" but she cuts him off.

"Her name was Riley and she was the first to die." She spills to him, the second person that she had admitted to. And her eyes start to fill with tears as she willingly - although, rather she would have preferred to not to - remembers how her friend had died. "And then it was Tess, and then Sam." Ellie brought up, not caring if Joel yelled at her for disobeying one of his earlier rules.

She just did not care. She wanted to know.

Joel shakes his head. "None of that is on you." He tells her, unsure whether if Ellie would actually listen this time around.

"No," she disagrees. "You don't understand." _She _was the reason why each one of her friends died. Riley, they had hung around outside, watching the stars when one of those _things_ had sneaked up. Riley had died be _protecting_ her. And then it was Tess, who had ended up being bitten by one of them when she had _protected her_. Finally, Sam joined the party - People-Who-Die-By-Protecting-Ellie.

Joel was wrong - it _was_ all on her. If only she had been stronger, smarter, faster. Maybe then she would have been able to do something about it. And since she was, in simple words, a magnet for trouble, _why_ did Joel want to keep her around? Why - that was the silent question that her eyes asked.

And so, Joel answered the best he could. Although, he was not one to be gentle. "I struggled a long with survivin'." He responded, unknowingly reaching down to caress the twenty-year-old watch that was wrapped around his wrist. "And you-" His face softened as he went silent for just a moment. "No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for." And by the end, his tone is hard, but, yet, in a way, mixed with awe. How could someone so young be able to accomplish that?

Ellie lets go of the breath that she had been holding, turning her head away from the man that she was entrusted into. Still, she listens as he hurriedly tells her, "Now, I know that's not what you want to hear right now, but it's-"

For a second time, she cuts him off. "Swear to me." They share a stretch of silence before she orders him again, "Swear to me that _everything_ that you said about the Fireflies is true." She stares at him, waiting.

Not wasting a beat, Joel answers, "I swear."

Maybe Joel had just lied to her. About what he had said in the car; how the Fireflies had stopped looking for a cure, and there were _dozens_ of people _like her_ that were immune. Or maybe he was not lying. Maybe he was telling the truth. She did not know.

"Okay," Ellie said and looked down, a bit unsure.

But there was one thing that she _did_ know, as well as Joel.

No longer were they just companions, two friends forced to go on a journey that was pretty much as long as the United States was from coast to coast. Over the year, they had grown close, Joel and Ellie. And in a way, Joel had started to view Ellie as part of his family; no matter how small it was. Now, and he cringed inwardly, Ellie would _never _be Sarah or even close to his daughter. But that was okay.

Because, just like Sarah had been; he had something to keep waking up to every morning, now. He had something to look forward to and fuss over, worry about every day. Just like his precious daughter had been to him, Joel had found a reason. And that was _her_.

Ellie was _his reason_ to keep fighting for.

* * *

**A/N: How was that? Did you like it?**

**Now, before I go, I want to thank everyone who either followed or added this story to your favorites, or possibly even both. I want to give you guys a big hug as a thank you for enjoying it! I really do appreciate it, all the views! (: Cookie for you! (: :)**

**Until next time, ¡Adiós!**


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